I remember going through school and learning the colors of the rainbow through a made up word “Vibgyor”. Although it’s a very strange sounding word and I was taken back by it in science, it has always stuck with me. I find it rolling off my tongue every time I arrange the colors of the spectrum for a class project or once a year around St. Patrick’s day. This simple, albeit bizarre word has helped me remember the order of the spectrum: Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, and Red. The letters in Vibgyor are a mnemonic (memory) tool called an acrostic.

While acrostics have been used by educators to help students study, they have also been used to create poetry. Poets such as: e.e. cummings, Edgar Allan Poe, William Blake, and Sir John Davies have all tried their hand at acrostic poetry. Acrostic writing dates back into Biblical times. They can be found throughout Psalms in the original Hebrew with words following the sequence of the Hebrew alphabet. Acrostic poetry is still written in specific meter or rhyme but the first letter in each line creates the word that inspired the poem.

In 1829 an acrostic poem was written by Edgar Allan Poe to “Elizabeth”. Note the meter and the rhyme is consistent with other poetic styles but the first letter of each line spells out her name.

Elizabeth it is in vain you say
"Love not" — thou sayest it in so sweet a way:
In vain those words from thee or L. E. L.
Zantippe's talents had enforced so well:
Ah! if that language from thy heart arise,
Breathe it less gently forth — and veil thine eyes.
Endymion, recollect, when Luna tried
To cure his love — was cured of all beside —
His folly — pride — and passion — for he died.

Although acrostics have been around since the earliest Hebrew writings, the form is being revived today. David J. Serana, a US Army veteran stationed in Iraq, has recreated the acrostic form to become tributes to be orated (read aloud) and presented as an honor to the subject of the tribute. He labels his work as the “world’s newest form of poetry.”

Named after his father, David defines a Serana as “the highest form of literary tribute given to a person traditionally to commemorate the day of birth. It is also considered as a literary apotheosis to a living person. It depicts the best qualities of the person of tribute. It tries to capture the greatness of the person in terms of his/her humanity; the achievements made in life and the material and immaterial wealth and riches that the person has.”
His original Serana’s were hand carved into polished stone from Iraq. He has written beautiful forms to organizations such as: Google, YouTube, Wikipedia. He has several moving Serana’s written in honor of the World Trade Center and the theme “God Bless America.” He even has a Serana written to describe the Serana. These can all be seen on his personal website.

It will be interesting to watch his talent and poetry form grow!